Doom

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER represents a study in system balance for a 2016-era FPS title like Doom. This combination sits at the 3168th position out of 3712 tested combos, placing it in the lower half of all configurations. The benchmark data reveals that this system is heavily constrained by its graphics card, with CPU headroom remaining largely untapped across every resolution and settings preset tested.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second data shows a predictable and steep decline as resolution increases, but the shape of that curve tells an important story about this system’s bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 148 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 96 FPS, a reduction of 52 FPS or roughly 35%. The step from 1440p Low to 4K Low brings the average down to 52 FPS, another 44 FPS decline. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings results in a 96 FPS total loss, which represents a 65% performance reduction.

The pattern at Ultra settings is similar but with lower absolute values. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages 89 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 58 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 31 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the single lowest measured value in the entire dataset. This scaling behavior indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component throughout the resolution range.

The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 21 FPS (52 versus 31), whereas at 1080p that same settings gap is 59 FPS (148 versus 89). This compression of the settings range at higher resolutions is a classic sign of GPU-bound operation. When the pixel count rises, the graphics card’s fill-rate and memory bandwidth constraints dominate, leaving less room for settings adjustments to influence performance. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest the card simply runs out of computational headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all four presets produce playable results. The Medium preset delivers 129 FPS average with a minimum of 110 FPS, while High reaches 109 FPS and Ultra drops to 89 FPS. For a fast-paced FPS, the Medium preset provides the best balance of smoothness and visual fidelity, since its 110 FPS minimum is well above what the Low preset’s 148 FPS average offers in terms of minimum stability.

At 1440p, the Medium preset again stands out. It averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS, which is a solid experience for this genre. High at 1440p averages 70 FPS, and Low reaches 96 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 58 FPS, which is still technically playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot at 1440p, offering a 13 FPS advantage over High while maintaining a minimum above 70 FPS.

At 4K, the situation becomes more challenging. Low settings average 52 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, High drops to 38 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31 FPS. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves an average above 50 FPS, and even that is marginal for competitive play. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 38 FPS minimum, is the highest quality setting that maintains a consistent frame rate, but users targeting 60 FPS will need to accept Low or reduce the resolution to 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture (codename Raphael) using a 5 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The processor includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The 65 W TDP and DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth round out a modern, capable platform.

The CPU’s benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 1852 in single-core and 12735 in multi-core. Geekbench results show 2521 single-core and 13413 multi-core. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 999 in single-thread to 6503 at max threads, with 8-thread performance at 5508. This processor sits at the 78th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26324.

In Doom, the CPU’s role appears minimal based on the FPS scaling data. The fact that performance drops by roughly 35-40% when moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings, and then drops another 45-50% from 1440p to 4K, suggests that the GPU is saturated. A CPU-bound scenario would show flat FPS across resolutions or only minor scaling. The Ryzen 5 7600’s nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (0.2% higher average score), the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (0.3% lower), the Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.4% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (0.5% higher). These delta percentages are all within a fraction of a percent, confirming that the 7600 is a solid mid-range performer, but none of that headroom is being exercised in this game at these settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 7600 and GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3168th out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places the system in the bottom 15% of all configurations tested. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the graphics card, as the CPU alone ranks in the 78th percentile of all processors. The GPU, by contrast, sits at the 53rd percentile of all graphics cards.

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (0.4% higher average score), the AMD Radeon RX 580 (0.4% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 (0.7% lower), and the AMD Radeon 740M (0.9% higher). The GTX 1660 SUPER posts an average benchmark score of 12986, with a Passmark G3D score of 12699 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 57102. These scores place it in the mid-range of desktop GPUs, and the Doom results reflect that positioning.

When comparing the combo rank to the individual component percentiles, the data shows that this system’s overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU. A system with a CPU at the 78th percentile and a GPU at the 53rd percentile would be expected to rank higher than 3168th if the game were well-balanced across both components. The fact that it ranks this low in Doom specifically suggests that the game’s engine, which is known for its scalability, is heavily weighted toward GPU throughput at these settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture (TU116 chip) using a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The card operates at a base clock of 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card achieves 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 10.05 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1 ratio).

The GPU’s direct influence on Doom’s performance is evident in the measured FPS data. At 1080p, the card delivers between 89 FPS (Ultra) and 148 FPS (Low). The 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but the 4K results indicate that the card’s compute resources are the limiting factor rather than memory capacity. The texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s are modest by modern standards, and these translate directly to the 4K performance floor.

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s benchmark scores include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 52490, and Passmark scores of 104 for DirectX 11, 50 for DirectX 12, and 189 for DirectX 9. The Passmark G3D score of 12699 and GPU compute score of 5076 further characterize its mid-range standing. In Doom, the card’s performance at 4K Ultra (31 FPS) versus 1080p Low (148 FPS) shows a 117 FPS spread, which is a 79% performance drop. This is a larger relative drop than the resolution scaling alone would predict, indicating that the card’s memory bandwidth and shader throughput are both being taxed heavily at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces the following average frame rates: Low settings deliver 148 FPS, Medium delivers 129 FPS (with a minimum of 110 FPS and maximum of 148 FPS), High delivers 109 FPS, and Ultra delivers 89 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 110 FPS is notably higher than the Ultra average of 89 FPS, suggesting that the Medium preset provides a more consistent experience than the higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 96 FPS, Medium at 83 FPS (with a minimum of 71 FPS and maximum of 96 FPS), High at 70 FPS, and Ultra at 58 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 71 FPS is above the Ultra average of 58 FPS, again indicating that the Medium preset offers better frame pacing for this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 52 FPS, Medium at 45 FPS (with a minimum of 38 FPS and maximum of 52 FPS), High at 38 FPS, and Ultra at 31 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 38 FPS, which matches the High preset’s average. This compression of performance at 4K means that the difference between Medium and High is only 7 FPS on average, while the difference between Low and Ultra is 21 FPS.

The delta between Low and Ultra at each resolution is as follows: 59 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. This narrowing delta at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck as pixel count increases. The CPU’s capability, as demonstrated by its benchmarks, is never fully utilized in this configuration, meaning that a more powerful GPU would yield significant FPS improvements across all resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance, averaging 129 FPS with a minimum of 110 FPS. This offers a 20 FPS advantage over High settings (109 FPS) and a 40 FPS advantage over Ultra (89 FPS), while maintaining a minimum frame rate above 100 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Doom?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset achieves an average above 50 FPS (52 FPS). Medium averages 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS, while High and Ultra average 38 FPS and 31 FPS respectively. Playable frame rates are possible but require significant settings compromises.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting component. The FPS drops by approximately 35% from 1080p to 1440p and another 45-50% from 1440p to 4K at the same settings, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance. The Ryzen 5 7600’s benchmark scores place it at the 78th percentile of all CPUs, indicating substantial untapped headroom.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 3168th out of 3712 tested combos for Doom. This places it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. The GPU’s 53rd percentile standing is the primary contributor to this low rank, despite the CPU’s higher 78th percentile performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution?

A: At 1080p, the difference is 59 FPS (148 versus 89). At 1440p, the difference is 38 FPS (96 versus 58). At 4K, the difference narrows to 21 FPS (52 versus 31). This decreasing gap at higher resolutions further confirms GPU-bound operation.

Q: Does the 6 GB VRAM on the GTX 1660 SUPER limit performance in Doom?

A: The measured data does not indicate VRAM capacity as a limiting factor. The card’s 6 GB GDDR6 memory with 336.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for all tested settings and resolutions. The performance drops at 4K are more consistent with compute and fill-rate limitations rather than memory capacity constraints.